Former Coach Haunts Sixers

Jim O'Brien had a dream. A dream to coach for the team he grew up watching: The Sixers. Jimmy O got that gig, only to be fired after just one season at the helm. The firing came during a time when former GM Billy King was on a hire-fire binge that saw Philly go from Larry Brown to Randy Ayers to Chris Ford to Jim O'Brien to Mo Cheeks between the 2003 offseason and the start of the 2005-2006 campaign.

Yesterday was Jim O'Brien's first time coaching in Philadelphia since the team fired him, and you can bet the Pacers 110-103 victory was sweet for him.

The Sixers beat themselves in essence. Indy sank 14 three balls to the Sixers' four. Philly's not a strong team from beyond the arc. We all know that, and at this point not much can be done about it. What the team can do, though, is make its free throws to compensate for opponents' extra points. The Sixers were just 21-34 from the line. No can do.

Stat Line:
- Andre Iguodala: 23 points, 2 assists
- Andre Miller: 21 points, 5 assists
- Sammy Dalembert: 13 rebounds (oh, you want the negative stats too? 5 points, 4 turnovers, 5 fouls)
- Lou Williams: 14 points (but 2-6 FT)
- Thaddeus Young: 13 points, 7 rebounds
- Gordan Giricek: 2:42 filling the stat sheet with zeroes.

Sidenote: the Sixers honored Bobby Jones at halftime. Jones was Sixtn Man of the Year on the 1983 championship team. This season the Sixers are celebrating the 25th anniversary of their last championship (and the last major league title for the city...) by tanking. Cool. I just really hope that two years from now this team is finally strong again. They have showed signs of brilliance. If Stefanski can keep the key pieces and finish the puzzle up with trades and free agents, things will be okay.

POST-KORVER RECORD: 3-10